11/15/2008 - Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henry Burris threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 32 yards and the go-ahead touchdown as the Calgary Stampeders held off the B.C. Lions 22-18 to win the West Division final and advance to the 2008 Grey Cup game.
Mike Labinjo had three sacks and eight tackles for Calgary (14-5), which will travel to Montreal to take on the Alouettes in the 96th Grey Cup game, set for next Sunday. The Stampeders will play for the championship for the first time since 2001, when they topped Winnipeg for the Grey Cup.
Burris completed 17-of-27 passes and was intercepted once, and Ken-Yon Rambo had four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown for Calgary, which swept four games from the Lions this season.
Stefan Logan rushed for 130 yards on 18 carries to lead the Lions offense. Buck Pierce completed 16-of-29 passes for 262 yards and an interception for B.C. (12-8), which failed to advance to its second Grey Cup game in three years. The Lions defeated Montreal for the title in 2006.
Geroy Simon had five catches for 118 yards, and Ryan Grice-Mullen gained 107 yards on six catches for the Lions.
B.C. led 15-9 after Paul McCallum's 12-yard field goal early in the third quarter, but Sandro DeAngelis made two kicks, from 42 and 27 yards, later in the frame to tie the game at 15-15 entering the final quarter.
Burris led Calgary on an eight-play, 69-yard drive, and his one-yard scoring dive gave the Stampeders a 22-15 lead with 11:18 to play.
McCallum made a 30-yard field goal to cut the deficit to four points with 8:36 left, though. Grice-Mullen looked to have the ball wrestled away by Brandon Browner on what wound up being a 36-yard gain after a review with a minute and a half to go, setting B.C. up near midfield, but Pierce threw the ball deep and up for grabs on the next play, and Browner came up with the interception.
B.C. got one last chance when Burris failed to run off the last seconds of regulation before throwing the ball away on third down from the Calgary 41, but Pierce's Hail Mary pass was batted down to end the game.
McCallum connected on four field goals in the first half and conceded one safety as B.C. took an early 12-2 lead. Burris and Rambo connected on a 22- yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left in the half, though, cutting the deficit to 12-9 at the intermission.
Game Notes
McCallum was 6-for-6 on field goals...Lions running back Joffrey Reynolds was held to 43 yards on 10 carries...Nikolas Lewis had four catches for 62 yards for the Stampeders.
<< Rodgers brothers, Oregon State inch closer to Pac-10 title with win
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of NASC
<< Rodgers brothers, Oregon State stay atop Pac-10 with win over Cal
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<< Terps topple Tar Heels on late field goal
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Obi Egekeze booted the game-winning field
goal with 1:42 to play and the Maryland Terrapins downed the 17th-ranked North
Carolina Tar Heels, 17-15, at Byrd Stadium.
Maryland was trailing by a point when t
Still unbeaten: Boise State bombards Idaho >>
Moscow, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Avery rushed for a career-high 156 yards
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Kellen Moo
Daye, Gonzaga cruise in season opener >>
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Josh Heytvelt had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Mat
Sharks winger DaSilva suspended >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American Hockey League suspended
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The suspension is automatic, by AHL
Sixers slam Thunder >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thaddeus Young scored 23 and Samuel
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Elton Brand and Andre
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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